There may be inspections of Canberra's garbage and recycling bins

Random inspections of green waste bins in the ACT have shown residents are doing the right thing and there is virtually no contaminants being put into the bins.

Envirocom environment education officer Kathryn Sullivan inspecting green waste bins in Kambah. Green waste bins are being randomly inspected to see who is or who isn't doing the right thing .Credit:Karleen Minney

And the inspection process may extend now to the red garbage and yellow recycling bins in a bid to educate residents about what can and can't go in the various receptacles.

Residents who do the right thing have been getting a green tag on their green waste bin; those who have put the wrong thing in, get a red tag to remind them of what can and can't go in the bin. The inspector has a friendly chat to the resident if they are home as well.

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ACT NoWaste director Michael Trushell said the introduction of the green waste bins had been "highly successful''

The rate of contamination was at 0.01 per cent of the more than 5000 bins inspected, representing about a quarter of the 22,000 households currently with a green waste bin.

A green or red tag is being left on green waste bins that have been inspected.

The most common contaminants were newspapers and magazines, plastic tags from plant nurseries and green waste being put inside a plastic bag.

"It's not like we've been getting engine blocks in there,'' he said.

Mr Trushell said because the green waste bins were an opt-in service and people who signed up obviously wanted the bins, they were much more likely to comply with its conditions of use.

"The government is delighted by it and so are residents. They really value the service,'' he said.

"I think, overall, the community has really embraced it.''.

Part of consultant Envirocom's duties around community education was to inspect the bins in random streets.

Mr Trushell said he could see value in regular garbage and recycling bins also being routinely inspected to avoid contamination of those and the sorting of materials. Because the garbage and recycling bins were provided in any case to ratepayers, there might be less of a vested interested to use them properly.

There are restrictions on what can go in garbage wheelie bins. Paints, batteries, rocks and soil, dead animals and electronic waste are some of the banned items.

Recycling bins cannot have things such as nappies, clothes, soft plastic including plastic bags, polystyrene or Styrofoam trays and packaging or food or organic waste put into them.

Mr Trushell said more than 3100 tonnes of green waste had been processed into mulch by Corkhill Bros.

Residents pay a one-off $50 fee for the bin and fortnighty pick-up service. Other Canberra suburbs are expected to have access to the service by mid-2019. Concession card holders are exempt from the fee.